Meet one of the team behind Shellharbour Airport's longest running passenger airline

At 17, Jeff Boyd snagged a job that laid the perfect foundation for a life-long career in aviation.

“I wanted something in mechanics, and my wise grandfather who lived to 104 advised me to get into the aviation industry,” he recalls.

After knocking on many doors, the bright teenager landed an apprenticeship with Ansett General Aviation at Bankstown Airport and has never looked back.

Jeff, now one of the most respected figures in Australian aviation, helped to establish Link Airways which has been successfully running out of Shellharbour Airport for seven years – longer than any previous passenger flight company.

“We run a fleet of 11 Saab 340B plus aircraft across our network including out of Shellharbour to Melbourne and Brisbane. The Saab is a popular regional plane with a terrific safety record,” says Jeff.

Initially Jeff, who is also a pilot, was hired by Link as a consultant based on his broad experience that covers owning an aero-mechanical business in Canberra, then a successful airline (Brindabella) with his wife Lara, who is also a pilot, before selling it in 2011.

In 2015 he was appointed chair of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to make changes after it received a highly negative independent review, an appointment that elicited a wave of support throughout the industry.

“At long last a chairman who has practical experience to understand the industry,” said Ken Cannane, who at the time headed the Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Business Association.

After four years of sorting out CASA’s regulatory woes, Corporate Air, who owns an air charter business based in Canberra, hired Jeff as a consultant to identify airline opportunities to expand the business.

“Those opportunities turned into Link Airlines and also a job for me,” he recalls.

He is Network Strategy and Development Manager and is involved in the day-to-day running of the business.

“We initially worked out where we’re going to fly, how often and grew from there. We now operate 16 routes across the eastern states and are Virgin Australia’s only domestic code share partner,” he says.

But like most businesses, Link Airways has had its challenges.

“Initially the Shellharbour services were going great, with a service that really appealed to business people who could be in, say Melbourne by 10 am and home to the Illawarra by dinner time,” says Jeff.

“The Shellharbour business was growing nicely until COVID struck – we had to reduce frequency due to a loss of about 25 per cent of clientele, and we’re still working to get them back,” he adds.

Does he fear the loss will jeopardise the future of the airline?

“Oh no,” says Jeff emphatically, “we’ll keep kicking along because we know we have a good product.

“The airport is great, especially since the Federal and State government grants Shellharbour Council received to upgrade the facilities – it’s now got a fantastic terminal and they’ve resealed the runways and put lights on the cross runway.

“It’s a no brainer … why go to Sydney for Melbourne and Brisbane trips when you can avoid the traffic, as well as the parking and petrol costs when you’ve got a quality service 15 minutes away.”

One of the recent additions to the service is the code share agreement with Virgin Australia, which allows passengers to book through Virgin. This also gives the opportunity to connect on to further destinations from Melbourne or Brisbane with Virgin.

At 61, Jeff can’t see himself retiring any time soon.

One of his personal accomplishments he highly values is that he has kept his aircraft engineer’s licence up to date.

“It allows me to do a couple of days a month at the hangar with the guys just to keep my hand in … it’s my happy place,” he says.